THE OKEECHOBEE WATERWAY TO FLORIDA'S EAST COAST

                                    The St. Lucie Lock (14 foot drop)

 

We departed as scheduled—at around 7:30 AM on Sunday, Mar 1, and headed up-stream up the Caloosahatchee River and into the Okeechobee Waterway across Florida. The weather was perfect—warm and very little wind. We managed about 58 miles without incident, passing through several bridges, only a couple of which needed to open for us (we are 17 ft in the air and most of the bridges here are at least 21 feet high with a little wiggle room). We arrived at Moorehaven, Fla on the west side of the lake at around 4 and tied up to the city docks that are right on the waterway—electricity and water supplied, all at very little cost. As it was Sunday, no-one was in the City Hall bldg directly across the street but we placed our fee in a baggy and dropped it with our boat card through the pay slot for the first arriving clerk to use for what would probably be a pretty good lunch in Moorehaven the next day.

Monday was more of the same but included a very peaceful and relaxing crossing of Lake Okeechobee from around 9:30 to around 12:30; then more “ditch” travel as we made our way down the St Lucie canal to the east side of Florida, eventually turning south in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW –but I prefer “ICW”) and winding up at a lovely anchorage in the north end of Lake Worth, just north of Palm beach. There are lots of sail boats here and they appear to be awaiting the coming weather window to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. I’d love to join them but will have to pass this time as our plans keep us pretty well tied to the east coast.

Once we turned into the ICW the traffic increased considerably, especially when we enter into the various towns along the way. It’s interesting seeing al the different boats and people but can be a bit annoying when you encounter the inevitable A-hole. The homes and yachts here are amazing. This is a very interesting way to see Florida.

We’ll spend a couple nights here on the hook and then depart for the Ft Lauderdale area where we’ll meet up with my cousin, Jane, and her family and do some exploring of the area before turning North to head up the coast to Palm Coast, just south of St Augustine to meet Kris and family at the Hammock Beach resort for a few days. They will have spent several days at Disneyworld with Paul’s parents before joining us at Hammock Beach. We’re also hopeful that Scott will be able to join us (currently in San Fran)

The boat is doing beautifully (except for brief scare the second day out when one of the raw water alarms went off on the port engine indicating the engine would overheat without sufficient cooling water to keep it cool. Investigation however showed the engine running at normal temps despite the alarm and it went off several minutes later and we haven’t heard it since. Talked to my engine guy and we think it was a short in the alarm sending unit—ie something electrical as opposed to mechanical) But, no other problems and we are really getting to know and enjoy this boat.